Many of us have heard “mind over matter”; but how can we actually apply it to help us be content in our daily lives? How do we even start to become content?

We can practice peace (shanti) and absence of restlessness (achapalam) through our yoga poses and daily meditation!

In our yoga poses (or asanas) it is important to enjoy ourselves. Feel all the ooey gooey feels of the poses. Enjoy the shaking in your legs and arms as you hold yourself up and get stronger. Even easier, smile while your practice. The more you practice with a smile on your face, the more your body remembers to smile throughout the day. Muscle memory works all day long, not just on your mat. So get to training those face muscles to relax and smile!

When we meditate, we can practice focusing on our breath and calming the mind. The active slowing of the breath, and there for the mind, will allow you to achieve peace, even if just for a moment. With practice this peace and contentment may be attained throughout the day.

Happy practicing!

Jeffrey Goldberg’s Practice Tip: Meditation Techniques for Everyone

We have been discussing meditation and going into the inner silence. Through regular practice of meditation, the mind’s thoughts slowly stop coming which leaves you in a peaceful, thoughtless state of pure awareness.

That sounds good, right? But the problem for everyone is creating the discipline to meditate with regularity. It is very difficult. Just like physical exercise, it takes regular practice over time to get results.

There are literally thousands of different ways to meditate just as there are thousands of different personality types. It is key to find the method that works for you. In the next few months, we will discuss the main techniques in the hope that you might find the right method for you to cultivate a pure awareness free of distracting thoughts.

There are four main categories of meditation cultivation techniques:

Mantra chanting and recitation of prayer

Witnessing or watching of thoughts (vipassana)

Visualization

Pranayama (life-force control) and Anapana (watching the breath)

Each category uses a slightly different method for calming the mind. By trying out different cultivation techniques within each category, you might find which ones naturally work best for you. With every technique, the mind will inevitably wander and you will become lost in random thoughts. The trick to meditation is simply to go back to your practice each and every time you become aware that your mind has wandered.